


Am I the first ghost you’ve seen?

by BeachBunny



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, DameRey, DameRey in future chapters, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Han is a Ghost, Kare is pregnant, Rey can talk to ghosts, Shara is a ghost, Snap is a ghost, Tags are for future chapters, That's Not How The Force Works
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23114365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeachBunny/pseuds/BeachBunny
Summary: When Rey died on Exegol and Ben sacrificed his Life Force for her, she had hovered in the plane between Life and Death. Even though she has returned to the land of the living, she's never really left that plane. So she's discovered that she can now communicate with the ghosts whenever they pass by the plane between Life and Death.
Relationships: Karé Kun/Temmin "Snap" Wexley, Poe Dameron & Karé Kun & Jessika Pava & Temmin "Snap" Wexley, Poe Dameron/Rey, Rey & Han Solo, Shara Bey & Rey, Shara Bey/Kes Dameron
Comments: 12
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Olpgurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olpgurl/gifts).



Rey died on Exegol.

She felt her Life force drained from her, by her grandfather no less, in his twisted scheme for power. 

Pain. Pain. All she could feel was pain. And then nothing. 

But then all at once, she suddenly could feel again. She could feel. Ben had woken her up.

But when Ben sacrificed his Life Force for her, she discovered that something else inside of her had woken up too.

***

Rey felt a strange uneasy feeling settle in her belly. She was attempting to meditate, the same way Luke had taught her on Ahch-To. She had tried to meditate on the base, but there were just so many people wandering around, the noise and disturbance was distracting her. 

Worse still, whenever she closed her eyes, she could still see, in her mind’s eye, the blue display of electricity lighting up the dark sky. 

To try and escape everything, Rey had gone out into the woods. After a hike, she had found a cliff overlooking a valley. It was perfect. 

Rey closed her eyes and tried to think back to Luke’s first lesson.  
Life.  
Death.  
Decay that feeds new life.  
And in between, a balance.  
The force.  
The energy that thrums in her, right down to her fingertips. 

“Hey kid.” 

Rey was dreaming. She had to be. She blinked her eyes open. Han Solo sat in front of her, not bathed in blue light like Luke or Leia whenever their Force ghosts appeared, but a solid figure. And grumpy. 

“How?” Rey found her voice.

“How am I here? How can you see me? Or how am I doing?” 

“All of them, I guess?” Rey ran her eyes over the man, the man who was truly her first father figure. The man who sacrificed his life to try to bring Ben home. 

“I… don’t really know.” Han scratched the back of his head. “You were about to join us, until you came back to the land of the living.”

“Exegol.” Rey breathed. Han nodded in agreement.

“But how are you here? Are you… back from the dead?”

Han threw his head back and laughed. Rey could see the laugh lines on his face, the outline of his profile, the features that Ben so obviously took after. 

“No, no. Sometimes we can come back just for a short while. You’re the first person who’s ever seen me though. The first living person I’ve talked to.” 

“You’re a ghost.” Rey already had an inkling of that the moment she saw Han, but the little part of her that hoped against hope shattered. Han was nothing more than a ghost, he would never roam the corridors of the Millenium Falcon, he would never argue with Chewie, he would never walk into another cantina. 

Han was speaking again, and Rey pulled her thoughts away to listen to him. 

“You were hovering, in the plane between life and death. And you were so close to joining us. But my son gave his life force to you, after you died. My guess is, you sort of never really left the plane between life and death... so now you can see us.” 

Han looked at Rey. “Am I the first ghost you’ve seen?”

Rey nodded. She had been visited by Force ghosts, like Leia and Master Luke, but this was different. 

“We are usually in the afterlife.” Han explained. “But once in a while, we can roam in this plane, just to visit. Just to see.” the people we love, Han didn’t add. 

“How long can you stay?” Rey asked. 

‘Not too long,” was his answer. 

They talked about everything they could, Rey trying to squeeze every bit of time with this man whom she had so little time with together when he was still alive. And for every minute that passed by, Rey felt her heart lighten.

“Take care of Chewie for me.” Han says awkwardly. “And don’t let that Dameron kid fly the Falcon again, I saw what he did to it last time!” Rey stifled a laugh, she could remember the day Poe had lightspeed-skipped the Falcon and ended up with the Falcon on fire. 

Rey tried to give Han a hug goodbye, but her fingers dropped right through Han’s shoulder. Ghosts don’t get hugs. Sadly she smiled at him, then turned away. She wanted to be the one to leave, only because she didn’t want to watch him leave. Like everyone else. 

***


	2. "We'll do this together."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, Snap Wexley comes to visit Rey, looking for a favour.

Suddenly, she came to, gasping for breath. _Where am I?_ She thought. _What happened?_

Rey clutched at her chest and allowed her breathing to slow. She was on the Falcon. She was safe. Palpatine was dead. The war is over. 

She checked the time and groaned. Why did her nightmare have to wake her up at 0300 hours? She probably wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. She debated for a second, before she swung her legs off the cot and padded out towards the mess hall. Maybe a walk would help.

It was quiet, but Rey found comfort in the silence. Sitting alone in the mess hall, her hands were curling nicely around a warm mug of caf when she saw Snap.

Rey jumped, spilling her caf all over the table. “Wuh?” was her eloquent greeting to him.

Snap looked unperturbed, as he walked up and pulled out the chair opposite her to sit down. She stared at him. He looked the same as he usually did, y’know, back when he was still alive. 

Snap had died during the Battle of Exegol. Rey could still remember Kàre breaking down and sobbing when she found out that her husband would not return to her. Rey thought her own heart would break into two. So many good people were lost that day. 

But that same Snap was here now, looking determinedly at Rey.

“Can’t sleep?” Well, Rey wasn’t quite sure that she was already asleep, and in a dream herself. And this was a voice she thought she would never hear again. She and Snap weren’t close by any means, but she knew of him. It was hard to miss one of the liveliest people on the base. She ran her eyes over Snap’s face. It was smooth, and he had no battle wounds. (Now that she thinks back, she doesn’t recall seeing any wounds on Han either, especially not the one on his chest that made her scream when she thought about it, the one caused by his own….). 

She pulled herself together.

“Yeah. Just keep thinking about everything.”

“You’ve earned enough rest for the rest of your life, Jedi.” 

She laugh-sighs at that. Snap’s own face breaks into a smile. They stare at each other, two people who never thought they could share a conversation ever again. 

Then Snap turns serious.

“Listen, Rey… I don’t know how long I have here and I need to let you know about this.”

“It’s about Kàre, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

They talk long into the night, mainly expressing disbelief that the war is over. But there is still much to do, with planets and governments thrown into chaos because of the war. Rey listens to Snap as he offers some insight of his own, thanks to his experiences. And when she wonders what she really wants to do with herself, he offers her a piece of information that made her want to get up and hug him. 

She doesn’t, of course. Instead, they continue to talk until she watches as Snap fades away, the conversation dying on his lips.

***

It’s two days before Rey finally manages to catch Kàre. She had volunteered for scouting missions, flying to nearby planets to ensure there were no First Order stragglers. “It’s either me going out there, or lying in my bed crying all day,” she had snapped at Poe, when he tried to deny her request. 

“Please General, at least then I can feel useful,” she finally softened. 

So Kàre was usually sent out with either Jess or Iolo, making trips to nearby planets, doing patrol work. Rey waited until Kàre had time for a shower and food before approaching her. 

“I have something for you,” Rey walked Kàre to her old room (she had moved into a new room after Snap’s death), and fiddled with the table there. Pushing it away, she got down on her knee, her finger brushing against the ground till she found the trapdoor.

There was a sharp click, and she shoved a panel aside. Kàre’s left eyebrow raised. Rey pulled out a package, unwrapped it and held it out to Kàre. 

It was a set of keepsakes - photographs, a collection of holos, what looked like letters and notecards, Rey could tell that Kàre recognized some of them as she took hold of the package, her face a look of reverence. Each item was preciously wrapped and stored, as though the original owner was looking to preserve it.

As Kàre looked at Rey, tears of gratitude in her eyes, Rey remembered Snap’s last (if rather cryptic) message for her, to give Kàre a long hug. 

Rey wasn’t very good at physical contact, but time spent in Leia’s arms, and Finn’s too, helped a lot. She could do this. She opened up her arms, and Kàre stood up and walked into them without hesitation.

They both stood there for a long moment, eyes closed, arms around each other, just savouring the moment. But as Rey shifted, something clicked into her mind. She pulled away to stare at Kàre. 

“What?” the other girl asked. 

“Did you know?” Rey wondered.

“That Snap kept all these? No,” Kàre laughed. “In fact, Snap wasn’t really someone who liked to take a lot of photos. I thought I was the sentimental one.” 

“No, no,” Rey shook her head, “do you not know yet?” 

“Know what?” 

“You’re pregnant.” A smile formed on the jedi’s face.

Kàre stared flabbergasted at Rey, hands flying to her stomach. She moved her fingers experimentally. 

“Wha- how do you know?”

Rey shrugged. “Jedi mind-thingys? You’re a month along.” 

Kàre broke into a tentative smile. Snap may no longer be around, but he had left so much more now. But Rey could see the wheels turning in Kàre’s mind - she would be a single mother, left to raise her child on her own. What now? 

“You’re not alone,” Rey reassured her, her mind trying not to think of a tall brooding man who said the same words to her a lifetime ago in Ahch-To. “We’ll all be here to help you.” 

“Really?”

“Of course… Jess, Iolo, Chewie, Rose, Finn, Poe,” Rey snorted at the last name. “Poe’ll probably jump in his X-wing to shout the good news to everyone the moment you tell him,” 

Kàre laughs at last, an amazing sound that reverberated around the room. 

“We’ll do this together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Asfghghfhrjjgg.
> 
> I have so much feelings right now.
> 
> This was meant to be a Damerey fic, featuring Shara Bey but it's accidentally taking on a life of its own. I love the story/tragedy of Snap and Kare, and I really wished it could have been a happy ending.


	3. I Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one thing Rey was looking forward to most was meeting, no, _coming home_ to the Force Tree. 
> 
> It thrummed with Life, a deep pulsing vibration sinking warmly in her chest. The tangle of roots under the soil reach their tendrils out - towards her, towards Poe, towards every life form in its vicinity. 
> 
> It’s here that Poe finds her one morning, 3 weeks later, meditating quietly on the ground right next to the tree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the first idea I had, that started this multi-chaptered fic. 
> 
> I got this idea from Chapter 12 of The Courtship of Princess Rey by Olpgurl, that moment where Poe was sitting in the Force Tree and I wondered if Shara Bey was actually sitting next to him.
> 
> Chapter 12 - The Courtship of Princess Rey by Olpgurl:  
> <https://archiveofourown.org/works/14426280/chapters/33757497#workskin>

Poe Dameron, she muses, as she watches the man in question slide into her peripheral view.

_Poe Dameron is a mystery._

Ever since Rey's met him, they’ve had this weird dynamic that she can’t quite identify. It’s different between her and Finn or her and Rose (or her and anyone, really).

Part of her wants to run away from it, to go back to the safe place she’s always been in, where she trusts only herself. But the other part of her wants to pull at it, tear it open, delve right in and drown in his eyes. Find out what she’s been missing all these years.

But she doesn’t. Instead, she goes to him and talks about some of the things Snap shared with her that late night.

She’s not quite sure how Poe will react if she told him she could see ghosts (“Hey, remember Snap? I saw him last Benduday. Yeah, he says hi.”). So she pretends that these ideas came from conversations with Force Ghost Leia. After all, that was probably a lot easier to explain. Poe already knew about how Jedis could speak to Force Ghosts and listen to their advice.

Speaking of which, the next time Force Ghost Leia slides into view, Rey fixes her with a frown.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the Force Tree?”

“The what?” Leia says serenely, although her twinkling eyes betray her otherwise calm exterior.

“You know.” Rey glares. “The Force Tree on Yavin 4. Why didn’t you tell me about that?”

“Oh that,” Leia waves her glare away airily, “Well you never asked me. And you shouldn’t be. After all, I’m not the one who used to live there.” Her grin deepens. “And I’m not the one who can bring you there.”

Rey sighs.

General Leia had been constantly burdened with worries of the war, the fate of the galaxy, and the pain of her son.

Force Ghost Leia was now only burdened with her favourite challenge of bringing a flyboy-turned-General and a scavenger-turned-Jedi together.

“It’s a good idea,” Leia says, snapping Rey back to the present. “Going to Yavin 4. The Massassi temple might be in ruins, but there’ll be plenty you can work with to set up a new base.”

Rey doesn’t say anything, but if Leia is thinking along the same lines as Snap, then it would be worth checking it out. Yavin 4 was the home of the old rebel base, and many of those who fought in the Battle of Endor had settled down at Yavin 4. From the ashes, they had learnt how to rebuild.

Rey hopes that they could learn from them.

***

Poe is jumpy as they initiate the landing sequence for the Falcon on Yavin 4. As soon as the doors open, he’s running out, towards a man obviously waiting for them. BB-8 follows behind, beeping excitedly, as Rey initiates the shutdown sequence.

Hand-in-hand with Finn and Rose, they walk out to meet the famous Kes Dameron.

***

It’s an overwhelming jumble of emotions to be here. They are nothing more than a bunch of misfits and orphans, Rey, Finn, and Rose, scarred by the war that had taken so much from them, but taken in by one Kes Dameron. And the whole of Yavin 4, it seems. Rey can’t so much as walk around the market before someone comes up to her, shaking her hand or pressing a piece of fruit into her palms.

And Kes Dameron would never take no for an answer whenever there was food involved (Spicy empanadas! Sweet koyo melon! Warm comforting soup!).

The citizens were also more than happy to help out in the rebuilding of the rebel base. There was so much work to do, from clearing up the rocks and weeds that covered the entrance, to mapping out the space. But Rey relished the hard work, as they watched everything take shape.

But the one thing Rey was looking forward to most was meeting, no, _coming home_ to the Force Tree.

It thrummed with Life, a deep pulsing vibration sinking warmly in her chest. The tangle of roots under the soil reach their tendrils out - towards her, towards Poe, towards every life form in its vicinity.

It’s here that Poe finds her one morning, 3 weeks later, meditating quietly on the ground right next to the tree. She blinks her eyes open as he walks up.

“Not interrupting you, am I?”

“Interrupt me whenever you want,” Rey smiles.

Instead of plopping next to Rey, Poe walks past her to haul himself up onto a branch, then turns to face her, legs dangling. She tries to disguise the look of horror.

“Are you actually sitting in a sacred Force tree?”

“Hate to break it to you sweetheart, but I was playing in this Force tree every day when I was a child.”

Rey tries to look stern but fails, the corners of her mouth tilting upwards every time she saw that Dameron smileTM.

“Making mischief every day?”

“You know it.”

“Young Poe sounds like a riot.”

“He was.”

“He still is.”

Poe catches the laugh in his throat.

“I wonder how your dad had to handle you?” Rey teases. “Shall I ask him to tell me stories of baby Poe tonight?”

“You wouldn’t.” Poe’s eyes are wide. It was embarrassing enough when Kes broke out Poe’s baby pictures on Rey’s second day in Yavin 4. Rey and Rose could hardly stop laughing as they sifted through the pictures and holovids.

Rey’s lips form a smirk as she recalls that day.

“Actually, I used to spend every day here right after my mum died.” Poe says shyly. “I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I’d climb up to the highest branch and pretend I was in the clouds. It made me feel like I was in mum’s A-Wing trying to reach the controller.”

Rey doesn’t know what to say, so she does what she thinks Poe would appreciate, and just listens.

“Being around this tree made me feel a bit closer to my mum, somehow.”

Rey tilts her head to the side, looking at Poe. Then she looks at the other person sitting on the opposite branch to Poe.

“Mijo!” Poe suddenly starts at the voice coming from the house. He slides down the tree branch.

“I was supposed to go help Dad fix the speeders today. I forgot about it,” he scrubs his face guiltily. “Do you want to come and help?”

Rey glances back towards the woman still sitting in the tree, then back at Poe.

“No, I think I’m gonna sit here for a bit longer.”

“Stay as long as you want.” Poe touches Rey’s shoulder briefly, then jogs back towards the house, calling his dad.

Rey watches him for a moment, then turns back and climbs the tree to sit where Poe was a minute ago. She is quiet for a while, before she turns to the figure next to her.

Shara Bey is exactly as she looked in the photos scattered around the Dameron household. Rey has seen enough of her photos to recognize her immediately, her soft brown curls tumbling down her shoulders, intelligent brown eyes peeking past her fringe. She can see little bits of Poe in her.

The two gaze at each other, saying nothing, before Rey’s eyes suddenly blink away tears. Rey had never known her parents. But Poe’s life was filled with his, before one of them was suddenly wretched away, leaving a gaping hole. She wondered if it was worse to know love and remember that you lost it, than to have never experienced that bit of happiness at all.

“I’m sorry,” Rey blurts out, not quite sure what she’s sorry for. Shara is shaking her head as well, her face understanding. She tries to take Rey’s hand with both of her own. When their hands don’t meet, Rey clutches the branch next to Shara like a lifeline.

“You make him so happy. I can see it.”

“He makes me happy too.” Rey chokes out. Shara tilts her head.

“Then why don’t you tell him?”

Rey can’t find the words to explain her hesitation. Shara smiles.

“Trust me, whatever you’re feeling, is what he’s feeling too.”

Huh. Of all the things Rey expected would happen in her life, swinging a lightsaber is one. Getting love advice from a ghost who’s actually the mother of her crush is another.

“I’ll take good care of him. And Kes too.”

“I know.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Cries happy tears*


End file.
